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PALO ALTO — Carlmont earned the respect of its Friday night foe, it just couldn’t come away with the road victory at Palo Alto, which prevailed 34-24.
“This game is five plays one way or the other,” Paly coach Nelson Gifford said.
“It was a very physical game,” said Palo Alto senior Louis Passarello, who earlier in the week was offered a Pac-12 scholarship by Colorado. “They brought it. They came out, they were prepared. It was a battle. It wasn’t easy.”
Carlmont coach Jake Messina — whose nickname should be “Riverboat” — gambled on a pair of fourth downs near midfield in the third quarter to get within 27-24 on back-to-back touchdowns by fullback Si’i Tengei, including an impressive 58-yard burst in which he spun out of a tackle inside the 5-yard line with 30 seconds left.
The Scots (2-2) piled up 299 yards on the ground, as sophomore Dane Fifita paved the way with 26 carries for 168 yards in lieu of the absence of Jonaven Kuhn, an 1,100-yard rusher as a junior lost to a shoulder injury in the opening minutes of the game.
“We’re there,” said Messina, in his fourth year at Carlmont, which finished as the Central Coast Section Division IV runner-up last fall. “We’re a real football program at this point. We’re just not quite deep enough to have a guy of that caliber go down and win against an opponent like this. Against most others, it’s pound it away and go.”
He added: “We had them in the ropes. We did what we could. I hold my head up high.”
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Up 21-10 at the half, Paly (3-1) looked in command after sophomore Josh Butler took a handoff 58 yards to the house on the third snap out of the locker room. Butler finished with 144 yards on 13 carries.
Fresno State commit Jamir Shepard, who sat out last week with an injury, was limited to two catches for 26 yards — the highlight a 20-yard grab on third-and-19 to extend the last scoring drive in the fourth quarter. With fellow senior Junacio Henly also held rather quiet as the Carlmont secondary focused on the wide receivers, it allowed tight ends Colin Giffen and Passarello to shine.
“I love having athletes like that,” said Giffen, who had seven catches for 156 yards. “It just opens up so much for me.”
Giffen, fresh off a three-TD performance, caught a 38-yard touchdown in which he eluded multiple tackles and bowled his way into the end zone to make it 7-0.
“The kid makes plays,” Gifford said.
On the ensuing drive, the Scots went for it on fourth-and-short on their own field, only to be denied. Two plays later, Paly senior Max Giovannotto scored from 5 yards out.
Carlmont cut the deficit in half to get within 14-7 with 9:24 left in the second quarter after a fumble recovery led to an 11-play, 60-yard drive capped by a 2-yard TD plunge from Fifita on fourth down.
“They made us work every single snap and they slowed the game down to a crawl,” Gifford said.
Paly quarterback Danny Peters — a 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore — only tossed four incompletions and kept the stick moving. He finished 16-of-20 for 238 yards and a pair of TDs, including an 8-yard strike to Passarello with 2:32 left in the first half to go back up 21-7.
“I really thought Danny Peters, when we needed him to be at his best, he made some special plays,” Gifford said.
“I love that guy,” Passarello said. “As a sophomore, he’s tearing it up. I can only imagine where he’s going to be a couple of years down the road.”
The Vikings, who were coming off consecutive wins by a 95-8 margin, capped the scoring with 7:57 left on a 7-yard TD run off a direct snap to Kevin Cullen, but lost the turnover battle after a pair of first-half fumbles as Paly was pushed to its limit.
“What it did is remind you that you’re human,” Gifford said. “I think that when you allow eight points in two games, then you start thinking, ‘Oh, this is easy. You can just go out there, just do whatever and play well.’
“It’s not true.”
It won’t get any easier next week as 2018 CIF state champion Wilcox comes into town for a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza League opener.
The Chargers (2-2) are licking their wounds after a dramatic 35-31 loss in the final 30 seconds at Pittsburg.
“Most of us seniors, it’s the only team we haven’t beaten in league, so we’re ready,” Giffen said. “We’re going to practice harder than we ever have all week and hope it shows on Friday.”
